Charles F. Cotton, at 60; Vietnam veteran, T manager

When Charles F. Cotton joined the Army during the Vietnam War, he chose to serve in the Green Berets, the elite Special Forces unit. It was a tribute, his family said, to his father's service in Navy intelligence during World War II.

As a medic and radioman, Mr. Cotton distinguished himself in the line of duty, but rarely talked about what he did during his nine months in Vietnam. Later, in civilian life, he took time out from his career as an accountant to help other war veterans in an outreach program in the suburbs west of Boston. One of his proudest moments was when his son, Charles F., joined the Army four years ago.

"Charlie was a real patriot," lawyer Leonard Clarkin of Medfield said of Mr. Cotton, who died Sept. 15 of a heart attack at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The Millis resident was 60.

His son, who is based at Fort Campbell, Ky., has arrived on emergency leave from his second tour of duty in Iraq to attend the funeral.

For 20 years, Mr. Cotton, described by friends as "a jovial Irishman who could make friends with strangers in minutes," worked in property management for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, starting out as assistant program controller and working his way up to manager, a job he held from 1986 to 1994.

Colleagues said Mr. Cotton brought a human touch to the job with acts of kindness shown to many who worked for the MBTA, among them a woman vendor at the Back Bay T station whose coffee stand was being phased out. He helped her sell her restaurant furnishings and get back on her feet.

"Charlie was the guy to go to with any problem," said James Carroll of Scituate. A favorite lunch-hour pastime of Mr. Cotton in those days, Carroll said, was a walk around Castle Island in South Boston.

When he retired from the MBTA in 1994 after heart bypass surgery, Mr. Cotton worked as a real estate mortgage broker and accountant. "Charlie struggled through everything and performed at the highest level," said his wife, Mary Ellen (Fahey). "Every client became a personal friend."

Mr. Cotton was born in Waltham, one of three children of Daniel and Evelyn (Wright) Cotton. A cousin, Roy Hansen of Marlborough, said that when Daniel Cotton served in Navy intelligence in World War II, he had to have his facial appearance altered to infiltrate a Pacific island where the Japanese were building an airstrip with Chinese slave labor. Based on information provided by Daniel, the United States was able to take over the airstrip, Hansen said.

After graduating from Waltham High School in 1962, Charles Cotton joined the Army the next year and served until 1967. Trained as paratrooper, he received the Parachute Badge, along with the Air Medal and the Army Commendation Medal. Part of his service in Vietnam was teaching English to Hmong tribesmen so they could help in the search for Viet Cong, Hansen said. "Charlie was a dynamite guy," Hansen said. "If you asked him to do something for you, he'd be there."

Soon after Mr. Cotton returned from Vietnam, he started night classes at Bentley College and worked days in a department store. He and Mary Ellen, whom he had met on a blind date two weeks before he left for Vietnam, were married in 1969.

He earned his bachelor of science degree in accounting from Bentley in 1972. After working as corporate controller at a Belmont firm that made surgical blades, Mr. Cotton started night classes at Suffolk University while working days for the MBTA. He graduated in 1979 with a master's degree in public administration.

Mr. Cotton served on the board of directors of Veterans Outreach-Metro West in Marlborough. Last year, he organized a golf tournament to raise funds for the group's programs.

Golf was one of Mr. Cotton's passions, and Dr. Richard Garian of Medway was one of his golfing buddies at Glen Ellen Country Club in Millis. It didn't bother Mr. Cotton if his game was off, Garian said. "He played it more for the camaraderie," Garian said.

Mr. Cotton loved sports, dancing, rock 'n' roll, and golf, said Clarkin, his friend of 30 years and companion at Beach Boys and Rolling Stones concerts. "Charlie loved Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. We bought albums and listened to them. He had been a great dancer and rock 'n' roller growing up in Waltham and loved to tell stories about those days." Mr. Cotton's wife said her 6-foot-tall husband "could do a mean Elvis impersonation."

Most of all, Clarkin said, Mr. Cotton loved people. "He was like a second father to my two boys. When my oldest was being confirmed and needed a sponsor, he picked Charlie. He was all about, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' "

Besides his wife and son, he leaves a daughter, Joannah M., of Boston; a brother, Donald of Killingworth, Conn.; a sister, Mary McDonald of Franklin; and two grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. today in St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Millis.

Burial with military honors will be in Vine Lake Cemetery in Medfield.